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Friday, February 17, 2012

Recipe for Spaghetti Squash and Chard Gratin

Spaghetti Squash and Chard, mixed together in a cheesy gratin.

(For Phase One Fridays I highlight Phase One recipes from the past that have been my personal favorites. This Spaghetti Squash and Chard Gratin from 2009 is one of my favorite ways to cook spaghetti squash.)

Besides writing this blog, I also write about food twice a week for BlogHer.com, and recently I wrote about spaghetti squash. Of course that made me think about cooking some of my own spaghetti squash from the garden. I found great-sounding spaghetti squash recipes for the BlogHer post, but the one that inspired this recipe was Spaghetti Squash Gratin from Daily Unadventures in Cooking. Adding the chard was one of those "wonder how it would work?" experiments, but really liked the combination of spaghetti squash and chard in this cheesy gratin.

Spaghetti squash is an ingredient you'll never forget after you've tried it once. It's quite magaical, the squash strings apart in a way that makes it look like spaghetti when it's cooked, and it's a mild-flavored squash that can get along well with many other flavors. I've been growing spaghetti squash for years, and I love to eat it when it's green like a summer squash, but if you don't have a garden you'll have to settle for the ripe spaghetti squash. This recipe for spaghetti squash is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, being hosted by Susan from The Well Seasoned cook this week.

The hardest part of this recipe is cutting the spaghetti squash in half. I've heard you can cook it whole and then remove the seeds after it's cooked, but I like to season the inside of the squash before it cooks. Use a big chef's knife, cut off the stem and blossom end, then stand the squash up and carefully press down to cut in half.

Then use the sharpest spoon you can find and scrape out the seeds and the slimy material that surrounds them. Throw that away.

Spray the pan with non-stick spray or olive oil, then rub the cut surface of the squash with olive oil rub and some seasoning. (I used some Rosemary Garlic Rub, but any seasoning that tastes good on vegetables would work.) Pour a little water on the baking sheet before you put the squash in to bake, which helps prevent the bottom of the squash from burning.

Squash is done when it strings apart in strands that look like spaghetti (if you use your imagination.)

While the squash is cooling, chop the onion and chard. I wanted small pieces of chard so it would mix well with the spaghetti squash, so I sliced it thinly one direction, then turned the cutting board and sliced the other direction. Saute onion a few minutes with seasonings, add garlic, then add chard.

It only takes a couple of minutes for the chard to go from the previous photo to this state of being about half wilted. It will cook more in the gratin, so turn off the heat as soon as it looks like this.

Use a large fork to gently mix in the shredded spaghetti squash and finely chopped chives or green onions.

Press the mixture into a gratin dish and sprinkle on a bit more grated Parmesan, then bake at 400F/200C for 30-35 minutes.

Here's how it looked when it came out of the oven. I didn't think this photo showed off the true beauty of the dish, but that didn't stop me from eating a big plateful of this for lunch. The next day I reheated some leftovers in an individual gratin dish to get the first photo and the one by the recipe.

Spaghetti Squash and Chard Gratin

(Makes about 6 servings, recipe created by Kalyn with inspiration from Spaghetti Squash Gratin at Daily Unadventures in Cooking.

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400F/200C. Wash the outside of the spaghetti squash if needed, then cut off the stem and blossom end, stand squash upright, and using a large chef's knife, carefully cut in half lengthwise. Use a sharp spoon to scrape out seeds and the slimy material that surrounds them, and discard. Rub cut sides of squash with about 1/2 T olive oil for each half, then sprinkle each with 1 tsp. Rosemary Garlic Rub or other seasoning of your choice. Spray the roasting pan with non-stick spray, Put squash on baking sheet and pour 1/4 cup water around bottom of squash. Roast squash about 45-50 minutes, or until it separates easy into strands when pulled with a fork. Let squash cool for a few minutes, then shred into spaghetti-like strands.

While squash cooks, wash chard leaves if needed and spin dry or dry with paper towel. In two batches, stack up chard leaves on top of each other and slice into thin ribbons, then turn the cutting the board the other way and slice again into small pieces. Chop onion.

Heat 1 T olive oil in heavy frying pan, add chopped onions, season with Spike seasoning, dried thyme, and black pepper, and saute until onion is softened, about 2-3 minutes. Add minced garlic and cook about 1 minute more, then add chopped chard all at once. Cook chard about 1-2 minutes, turning a few times. until it's wilted to about half the size it was. (The chard shouldn't be completely cooked, since it will cook more in the gratin.) Turn off heat.

Put 3/4 cup low fat cottage cheese in a fine strainer and rinse with cold water until only the cheese curds remain, then let drain. Spray a glass or crockery gratin dish with non-stick spray or olive oil.

Using a large fork, gently mix the chopped chives or green onion and shredded spaghetti squash into the onion/chard mixture. Combine the sour cream, drained cottage cheese curds, Parmesan cheese, and beaten egg and mix into the chard/spaghetti squash mixture. Then put the combined ingredients into the gratin dish, and press down so it's evenly distributed in the dish. Sprinkle top with about 1/4 cup more Parmesan cheese.

Bake about 30-35 minutes, or until the mixture is bubbling and cheese is browned on top. Serve hot.

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84 comments:

Wow, that's a beautiful and delicious looking recipe! I'll have to go get some spaghetti squash and have a go at it myself. Thanks for all the detailed photos as well, it makes the process so easy to follow.

This looks great! After I struggled to cut open a spaghetti squash myself last night, I heard (via @MangoTomato) that it's much easier if you microwave it for 5 min. I'm definitely going to try it next time, which will probably be when I'm trying this recipe!

My first encounter with spaghetti squash was when I was in college. It was new and fun and oh-so-trendy, especially for students on a budget. One squash could feed all of my roommates. We'd make marinara sauce and pretend we were eating spaghetti. I don't make spaghetti squash often enough these days, so thanks for the reminder.

This recipe looks very good. But I have a huge fear of cutting large squash and melons. You can only image how dangerous it can be when I have a large, sharp cutting instrument in my hand. This is something I and people that know me often have nightmares about. xo

Kalyn, in a quest to cut down carbs in my life, I made this delicious sounding gratin today. WOW. YUMMY! I didn't even MISS the carbs, and I'm getting a bunch of fiber to boot. You have also helped me lose my spaghetti squash virginity! My first time consuming spaghetti squash! I'm a fan.

We had this for dinner last night and I have to say it was so delicious. I love spaghetti squash and swiss chard and never, in a million years, would have thought to pair them together. So good. My kids and hubby loved it. Thanks for sharing.

Wow Kalyn, this was GOOOOOOOD. I have a question for you though, why rinse out the cottage cheese? I know you have a reason, but since i've never seen this done, i was wondering why?

I'd also like to thank you for all the great recipes. I have done the SB diet, and it works well for me, but frankly, I tend to run out of ideas for food. I'm so glad I came across your blog. Again, thanks!

Calico road, you might be able to make this without rinsing the cottage cheese, but I do that when I want to use the cheese curds as "cheese" and don't want the creaminess. I use cottage cheese in eggs this way quite a bit.

What a great looking recipe. I'm trying to learn to like new vegetables. In my gluten eating days I would prefer a box of Triscuits to a veggie. I have never had Swiss Chard and this looks like a great way to try it. I'll try substituting the sour cream and cottage cheese with Yogurt Cream for a SCD version.

I've never eaten or cooked with either chard or spaghetti squash. This was good! It took a long time to put together. I mean a really long time. But it was worth it. I used red Swiss Chard. I guess they all taste the same? The leftovers are awesome! I have some butternut squash and turkey sausage. I'm going to try those next..

If the dish looks that good in the photo you didn't think did it justice . . . wowie! :) Looks beautiful to me. I love both spaghetti squash and chard (well, and gratins), so this is a no-brainer for me. I think you're right that it would be a lovely T-giving dish.

Yummy! Well, I guess I should explain. I have cooked spaghetti squash in the microwave since I can't cut the darn things. I nuked it for 5 or 6 minutes in a largish bowl with a tea towel covering in case it pops open (and sometimes they do!) It was cooked enough to easily cut open and then I dirzzled the oil and used Season-All and some Magic Seasoning (salt free) by Paul Prudhomme. I then bkaed for 30 minutes. As I shredded the squash, I had a taste. It was sooo good! My DH and I just decided to eat it like that as a side dish to our dinner. The best of both worlds- ease and savory taste. I will follow through with the full recipe next time since we love chard. Thanks for the delicious recipes. :)

I made this for dinner tonight and it was crazy good! Instead of chard, I used a 10oz package of frozen spinach and added 8 oz. of mushrooms and served it with turkey meatballs on the side. I didn't have the right quantities of cheese so I added a little feta at the end which was really tasty. Thanks for another wonderful recipe. You make following SB really easy, fun and delish! Thank you!!

Hi Kalyn - I was a little frustrated by all the comments that said how great the spaghetti squash & swiss chard recipe looks, but very few from folks who made it. I made this recipe today, but used spinach since I didn't have swiss chard. I also sauteed chicken tenderloins with onion, garlic, and adobo for a caribbean flavor, then added the spinach at the very end. THIS WAS AMAZING! My son ate half of it in a single sitting! I was hoping to have leftovers, but it probably won't make it til bedtime. Next time, I think I'll add water chestnuts for a nice crunch. A great dish that is already a family favorite.

The top photo is a dish of this that was leftover, refrigerated over night and then reheated, so I think you could assemble the gratin on Wednesday night, refrigerate, and then cook the next day. I might wait to sprinkle on the Parmesan cheese right when you're going to cook it. It would be best to let it come to room temperature before you cook it.

I've always wanted to try spaghetti squash, but this kind of squash rarely sold on our local market. I'm from Southeast Asia by the way. If I can find one, I'll definitely gonna try you recipe here. Thanks a lot for sharing this.

Mia now I am curious about where spaghetti squash originated. I first remember seeing it here in the 70's, but only in gardens at first. Now it's in every store here when it's in season. Hope you find some!

I was looking for a non-tomatoey spaghetti squash recipe and found this and made it tonight (minus the cottage cheese that I didn't have) - it was delicious! I sprinkled on a few panko crumbs for extra crunch too :) Thanks for a great recipe!

Hi Kalyn :) I can't wait to try this recipe! i'm on a diet to lower my cholesterol and your website is going to be very helpful!! my husband is allergic to egg yolks though and i was wondering if i could omit the egg or use egg whites instead? thank you very much and please keep coming with the recipes :)

Great recipe - and we've been making more and more gratin this year. Love absolutely love chard but I would never think to pair is with squash. We are now seeing more varieties of squash on our market now....so this would be a great lunch dish!

I made this recipe for Easter lunch using homegrown chard and spaghetti squash. A HUGE hit!! We have several people in the family who are gluten free and another who is vegetarian, so this was the perfect dish. Even my husband, a squash hater, asked if I would make it again. Thank you!

Yes, it does mean 2 T. I used one tablespoon to rub the squash before I seasoned it, and then 1 T more when I sauteed the chard. If you use a non-stick pan you might be able to get away with a bit less for the sauteeing.

I just found this recipe online and it really got me excited as I had chard growing in the garden and a spaghetti squash waiting in the house. It's fantastic, so delish, what a great recipe and combo. Thank you!

I'm so happy you're taking the time to comment on Kalyn's Kitchen! I love hearing from people who stop by, especially if you're sharing feedback or asking questions about a recipe I've posted here.

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